Off the northeast coast of Russia, the captain and crew of a small crabbing vessel are brutally murdered by members of Bratva, the Russian mafia—their bodies stuffed into crab pots and thrown overboard. The killers scuttle the vessel off the coast of Alaska and slip ashore.
In Washington, DC, Supreme Court Justice Charlotte Morehouse prepares for a trip to Alaska, unaware that a killer is waiting to take his revenge—by livestreaming her death to the world.
In Anchorage, Alaska, Deputy US Marshals Arliss Cutter and Lola Teariki are assigned to security detail at a judicial conference in Fairbanks. Lola is tasked with guarding Justice Townsend’s teenaged daughter while Cutter provides counter-surveillance. It’s a simple, routine assignment—until the mother and daughter decide to explore the Alaskan wilderness on the famous Glacier Discovery train. Hiding onboard are the Chechen terrorists, who launch a surprise attack. While they seize control of the engine, Cutter manages to escape with Justice Townsend by jumping off the moving train—and into the unforgiving wilderness.
With no supplies and no connection to the outside world, Cutter and the judge must cross a treacherous terrain to stay alive. Two of the terrorists are close behind. The others are on the train with the judge’s daughter—and they plan to execute her on camera. With so many lives at stake, Cutter knows there are only two options left: catch the train and kill them all . . . or all will be killed.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Breakneck by Marc Cameron comes alive with a train ride deep into the Alaskan wilderness. US Marshal Arliss Cutter along with the Alaskan setting plus the Russian mob make for a good thriller recipe. There is plenty of action, suspense, and mystery.
The main plot line has Deputy US Marshal Arliss Cutter and his partner, Lola Teariki assigned to a security detail at a judicial conference in Fairbanks. They are appointed to the protective detail of US Supreme Court Justice Charlotte Morehouse and her teenage daughter Ramona. After the conference ends, they decide to take a scenic train ride to explore the Alaskan wilderness on the famous Glacier Discovery Train. Unfortunately, no one suspects the Russian mobster, Maxim Volkov, who wants the Justice dead in retribution for the role she played in the death of his wife. The Russians are brutal, unrepentant, and have no qualms about killing anyone who gets in their way. The train’s confined space makes the Justice an easy target. To save the Justice, Arliss has them both jump overboard. This is where another antagonist, the setting, comes into play.
The other sub-plots involve the growing romance between Lola and Anchorage Policeman Joe Bill Bracket, the pursuit for truth about Arliss’s brother Ethan’s death, and the need for Arliss and his sister-in-law Mim to address their feelings for each other.
This story takes off, putting readers on a wild ride with the characters who are fighting for their survival. The action is authentic, the characters well written, and the plot intense.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: The idea for the story?
Mark Cameron: All these books are boiling around in my mind from my career. I wanted to write about the different jobs of US Marshals including a protection “gig” for my main character Arliss.
EC: How would you describe US Supreme Court Justice Charlotte Morehouse?
MC: For many years my primary focus in the Marshal service was protecting Supreme Court Justices and District Judges. It is something I am familiar with including the setting of Alaska. Justice Morehouse lives in an insulated world and has a position of power. She rises above people waiting on her and doing all the research. She is a good listener and a good person. I did not write her as a damsel in distress, but Arliss did help her survive Alaska. She has a teenage daughter, Ramona who Lola, Cutter’s partner, protects, interacts with, and can show a playful side.
EC: Was Morehouse based on anyone?
MC: None of the characters are based on any one person. But she was inspired by those I met. I was on Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s detail a few times. I met her when she had come to Alaska to fish. I always respected her demeanor, a wise human being. I interacted with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg since I was the Chief when she came to Alaska. I wanted to write about how the US Marshals protected them. We protect everybody equally and stay out of the politics.
EC: You mention in the book another types of law enforcement, VPSO?
MC: It stands for Village Public Safety Officer. They have a motto, “First Responders in the last frontier.” They are funded by the state and the tribes. It is a quasi-law enforcement type. They help the state troopers. They are generally unarmed but do carry teasers, pepper spray, and a baton. Many times, they are in places where there are no troopers stationed and do have power to arrest. They do everything from combating criminals, fires, and do search/rescue. I wrote about this profession with the character George Polty.
EC: How did the setting of Alaska play into the plot?
MC: The Alaska setting is an antagonist because it is so brutal. The Alaskan wilderness is uncaring and scary. The wind, the snow, and the river. Whether a billionaire or pauper the river can drown someone. People must learn to go on the wilderness’s terms. If someone fights it head on, they will lose. There is no fair. If someone is not smart the setting can kill them.
EC: There was also the Alaskan train. Did you do any research?
MC: My wife and I rode it just last year. I flew over it, took some boats, and then four wheelers to make sure I was familiar with the area. It is wild, off the grid. The train goes through once a day during the season, but the rest of the time it is locked in snow and ice. When the snowpack melts there are chunks of ice, scouring the riverbank. The river rises and turns turbulent.
EC: What is the role of Captain Tom Walker, a former Army Ranger sniper?
MC: He represents those people who is a loner, odd duck. He hides out, sick of civilian civilized life. Arliss Cutter is envious of his simple life.
EC: Why the Russian mob angle?
MC: I said in the beginning of the book, Russia is just like Alaska except they have tigers. It is the same setting. The wilderness is the same. Russia is just across the water from some of the Alaskan islands.
EC: Where are you going with the relationship between Mim and Arliss?
MC: She married his brother, Ethan, who died a few years ago. She is a little scared of her own feelings. The next book will show where they will be headed. Some readers will think that there is an attraction between Mim and her brother-in-law, Arliss. Hopefully I laid the groundwork that he is not a stalker, but their feelings have been a long slow burn. But I think most people will think that if they get together it will be organic and natural. He is damaged, having lost his last wife to cancer; she is widowed; and they do have a past when they were sixteen and dated.
EC: Can you explain the meaning of Grandfather Grumpy’s credo, “never go anywhere for the first time”?
MC: It means talk to people who have been there already, don’t go anywhere blind. Read up about it. Get all the information you can. All these sayings I have learned along the way. I started in law enforcement in the eighties. I worked with cowboys, Viet Nam vets, my own grandparents. I used their rules and put them in Grumpy’s words when they fit the narrative.
EC: Next book?
MC: The overall arc about Ethan’s death will continue. It is titled Bad River. There will be a murder investigation in the far Alaskan north, around Utqiagvik. It will be out a year from now.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE LONER by Diana Palmer on this Spring 2023 HTP Books Romance Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book summary, an excerpt from the book and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Summary
Tanner Everett spends most of his time jet-setting around the world. But that hasn’t stopped innocent Stasie Bolton, the daughter of a neighboring rancher, from falling head-over-heels for the jet-setting playboy. So Stasie is secretly thrilled when both her father proposes linking the properties in matrimony…which means Tanner will be hers, for good.
Despite his globetrotting ways, Tanner can’t help but be enthralled by the quiet girl next door. But as the embers between the two are fanned into flames, Tanner wonders if he’s found forever in the last place he ever expected.
Anastasia Bolton, nicknamed Stasia, was nineteen today. She looked at herself critically in her bedroom mirror, making a face at her lack of beauty. She had a pretty mouth and big, soft brown eyes. Her cheekbones were high, her ears small. She was only medium height, but her figure was perfect. She had elegant long legs, just right for riding horses, which she did, a lot. She’d done barrel racing when she was younger, but art had taken over her leisure hours. She painted beautifully.
She was named after a semi-fictional character in a movie her romantic late mother had loved, Anastasia, which starred Yul Brynner and Ingrid Bergman. Her mother had loved the movie and named her only child after the unforgettable heroine. Stasia lived with her father, Glenn Bolton, on a huge beef ranch in Branntville, Texas. Her last living grandparents, her dad’s parents, had died of a deadly virus the summer before her graduation from high school. Her mother had died tragically when Stasia was only thirteen. There was no other family left, just Stasia and Dad. They were close.
Glenn Bolton was only fifty years old, but he had a very bad heart and he was in the final stages of heart failure. It was treatable, but he hadn’t shared that knowledge with Stasia. He was terrified of the open-heart surgery treatment would require. He and the doctor had spoken privately the week before, and afterward, Glenn had been quieter than usual and he’d contacted his attorney. That had been a private conversation as well. Stasia worried about what was being discussed. She didn’t want to think about what her life would be like without him. She had no family except him.
Well, there were the Everetts, who lived next door to her father’s ranch on their own enormous ranch, the Big Spur. They were sort of like family, after all, since Stasia had known them all her life. Cole Everett and his youngest son, John, were frequent visitors. Glenn had the only groundwater suitable for ranching in the small community of Branntville, Texas. A river ran like a silver ribbon through his entire property, so he wasn’t dependent on wells for watering his cattle, as other ranchers were. He approved of Cole and John. He wanted more than anything to see his daughter settled with one of the Everett sons, but she was only in love with one of them—with Tanner, the eldest, who was the cookie-cutter design of the spoiled rich kid. Cole hadn’t spoiled Tanner. That had been his wife, Heather, a former singing star and current songwriter. Their firstborn had been the light of her life. He was twenty-five now, a strong, incredibly handsome young man with dark hair and pale blue eyes, almost silver like his father’s, and a Hollywood sort of physique. He liked variety in his women, but for the past year he’d had a girlfriend who enjoyed the jet-setting lifestyle that he favored.
Cole had given Tanner a Santa Gertrudis stud ranch that he’d bought when the owner went into a nursing home, hoping to settle down his wild son. It was a good property, adjoining his and the Bolton properties, but the water situation there was dire. There had been drought in the past year, and they’d had to drill wells to get enough water just to keep the livestock watered. The Bolton place had a river running through it, and many small streams that ran over into the Everetts’ holdings. However, that water didn’t belong to them so they were unable to divert it for any agricultural purposes.
For a long time, Cole had toyed with the idea of a merger with Glenn Bolton, but Glenn wouldn’t hear of it. He found all sorts of reasons for his stubborn attitude. Cole saw right through him. Stasia was still living at home, and she was in love with Tanner. The fly in the ointment was that Tanner didn’t like Stasia. He liked experienced, sophisticated women like Julienne Harper, his girlfriend. Tanner could have made an empire out of the ranch Cole had given him, but he wasn’t home enough. He and Julienne were always on the go somewhere. Skiing in Colorado, parties on somebody’s yacht off Monaco, summers in Nice. And so it went.
Stasia knew about Julienne. Everybody in Branntville did. It was a small community where gossip flourished. It was mostly kind gossip, because the people who lived there had known each other’s families for generations. Tanner was one of them. But Julienne, who was sarcastic and condescending, was an outsider, a city woman who’d alienated just about everyone she came into contact with.
Tanner had a couple, Juan and Minnie Martinez, who ran the house and managed the ranch for him while he played around the world. They’d just threatened to quit because of Julienne’s last visit to Tanner’s ranch. Cole had played peacemaker. The Martinezes were good at ranch management, and somebody had to keep the place going. Cole despaired of Tanner ever settling down to real work. He’d always had everything he wanted. Cole, who adored his wife of twenty-five years, hadn’t had the heart to make her stop coddling Tanner, while there had still been time to knock some of the selfishness and snobby attitude out of him. Now, it was too late.
Stasia came into the living room where the men were talking with a tray of coffee and sliced pound cake. All three men stood up, an ancient custom in rural areas that still had the power to make her feel important. Her generation cared less about such things, as a rule, but Stasia was a throwback. Glenn had raised her the way his parents had raised him. She’d absorbed those conservative attitudes on the way of the modern world. She hated it. She hated it most because Tanner liked women who belonged to that sophisticated crowd.
John Everett looked like his mother, Heather, in coloring, at least. He was big and blond and drop-dead handsome, with his father’s silver eyes. His young sister, Odalie, also looked like Heather, with pale blue eyes and blond hair. Tanner was the one who most resembled Cole, who was tall and still handsome. Tanner had the same thick, dark hair but with pale blue eyes that just missed being the silver of his father’s.
John went forward and took the heavy tray from her. He grinned. “I love cake.”
She laughed, a soft, breathy sound. “I know.”
She smiled at him with warm affection. He was like a cuddly big brother to her. He knew that and hid his disappointment. “How’s the art going?” Cole asked with a smile.
“I sold a painting!” she exclaimed happily. “There was a man passing through, from someplace back East, and he saw the landscape I painted in the local art shop. He said it was far too cheap for something that lovely, so he gave Mr. Dill, the owner, three times my asking price. I was just astonished.”
“You paint beautifully,” John said, his eyes brimming with love that she tried not to see. He indicated the landscapes on the walls of the Bolton home; one with running horses in a thunderstorm was entrancing.
“Thanks,” she said, flushing a little. “Mr. Dill said the man looked Italian. He was big and muscular and he had these two other big guys with him. He was passing through on the way to San Antonio on business.”
“Sounds ominous,” John teased.
She laughed as she poured coffee all around and offered cake on saucers with sparkling clean forks. “He told Mr. Dill I should be selling those paintings up in New Jersey, where he was from, or even New York City, where he owned an art gallery and museum. He said he was going to talk to some people about me! He even took down Mr. Dill’s number so he could get in touch.” She sighed. “It was probably just one of those offhand remarks people make and then forget, but it was nice of him to say so.”
“You really do have the talent, Stasia,” Cole told her. “It would be nice if he could put you in touch with some people in the art world back East. If that’s what you want to do with your life,” he added gently.
She smiled at him. “I like to paint.” She grimaced. “I’d like to marry and have a family, though.”
“No reason you couldn’t do both,” John said. “And if you had to fly back East to talk to people, well, we have a share in a corporate jet, you know. You could let us know when you had business there and I could go with you.”
She smiled sedately. “Thanks, John, but it’s early days yet.”
“How’s Tanner?” Glenn asked.
Cole’s light eyes grew glittery. “Off on another trip. To Italy, this time. My daughter’s studying opera in Rome. He thought he’d stop by and see her on the way to Greece.”
“Odalie has a beautiful voice,” Stasia replied, hiding disappointment. She’d hoped Tanner might show up with his brother and father. “Does she want to sing at the Met eventually?”
“She does,” Cole replied. He drew in a long breath and sipped coffee. “I’ll hate having her so far from home. But you have to let kids grow up.” He glanced at John with affection. “At least this one doesn’t have itchy feet yet!”
“I’m a homebody,” John said easily. “I love cattle. I love ranching. I don’t want to leave home,” he added, with a covert glance at Stasia.
“Good thing,” Cole chuckled. “I have to leave the ranch to somebody when I’m gone.”
“You’re not going anywhere for years,” Glenn chided. “The Everetts are a long-lived bunch. Your grandfather lived to be ninety.”
“Yes, but my father died before he was sixty, and my mother died before I married Heather,” Cole replied. His face tautened as he relived those days, when a lie split him apart from Heather, whom he’d loved with all his heart. It had been a torment, those months apart before he discovered that a jealous rival had told him lies about Heather’s parentage and made it sound as if he and Heather were actually related. They weren’t, but it was heartbreaking just to think it. Heather had been singing in nightclubs in those days. Cole had been cruel to her because her feelings for him were all too visible and he thought nothing could ever be allowed to happen between them. When he found out the truth, Heather had already backed out of his life. It had taken a long time to win her back.
He glanced at Stasia. She reminded him of Heather in her youth. She wasn’t as beautiful as his wife, but she was sweet and gentle and she’d make someone a good wife and mother. He knew that it wasn’t going to be Tanner. The boy had mentioned weeks ago that he hated having to talk to her father at all because Stasia would sit and stare at him as if he were a tub of kittens needing a home. He found her juvenile and dull. John, on the other hand, adored her. Cole grimaced as he processed the thought, because Stasia so obviously thought of John as the brotherly type.
“Now, about what I mentioned on the phone,” Cole began as he finished his coffee and put it and the cup and saucer back on the tray.
“I know what you’re going to say,” Glenn broke in, with a smile. “But I’ll never give you permission to dam the streams.” Cole sighed. “Only one stream, the one nearest my south pasture. The cattle are going to suffer for that decision,” he told the older man. “We’ve drilled every well we can.” “I know that,” Glenn told him. “I’ve got things in motion that will solve your problem. Don’t bother asking; won’t tell,” he chuckled. “But you’re worrying over something that’s already fixed. Just a matter of time. Short time, at that,” he added with a faraway look in his eyes. Cole started to argue, realized it would do no good and just shrugged good-naturedly. “Okay. I’ll rely on your conscience.” “Good place to put trust, since I do have one,” Glenn replied.
He scowled. “That boy of yours got himself into hot water in France, they say. It was on the front page of the tabloid those Lombard people back East publish.” “It wasn’t Tanner who started the trouble,” Cole replied curtly. “It was his…companion, Julienne Harper. She started a row in a high-ticket French restaurant with another woman, and her companion started cursing and threw a punch at Tanner when he intervened. Tanner had some explaining to do.” He glanced at Glenn. “This time, I didn’t interfere, and I wouldn’t let Heather do it, either. The boy’s got to grow up and take responsibility for his own actions.”
“According to the tabloid, he made restitution for the victim’s dress and paid the dentist to replace one of her date’s front teeth.” Glenn shook his head. “Reminds me of you, when you were that age,” he added with twinkling eyes. “Got arrested for a bar brawl when you got home from the service, I believe…?” Cole glared at him. “Some yahoo made a nasty joke about what soldiers did overseas. I took exception. The guy wasn’t ever even in a good fight, what would he know about being a soldier?” “Well, your dad kept him from suing, at least,” Glenn said, and chuckled. “Most people around here were scared of your father anyway. He was a real hell-raiser.” Cole smiled sadly. “He was, and he died far too young.” Glenn knew some stories about Cole’s father that he wasn’t about to share. Some secrets, he reasoned, should be kept.
“Your son was in black ops when he went in the military, wasn’t he?” he asked suddenly. Cole looked thunderous. “Yes, he was. I didn’t find out until he was back home.” He sighed. “I told him he had to get an education, so he joined the Army and got it that way. At least he finally decided that risking his life daily wasn’t conducive to running a ranch. It’s one reason I bought the old Banks property for him, to draw him back home.” He leaned forward. “I thought if his income depended on ranching, he’d make better life decisions. At least he did get a degree in business, even if it was between assignments.” He laughed shortly. “And then he met her.” He shook his head.
Everybody knew what that meant. “Her.” Julienne Harper. The fly in the ointment. She’d lured Tanner back into the jet-set lifestyle the military had purged him of, and now he was even less responsible than he’d been before. “A bad woman can make a fool of a good man. And sometimes, the reverse,” Glenn added. He didn’t mention his late wife, but they all knew the tragic story. His wife had been suddenly and hopelessly attracted to a man straight out of prison who’d worked on the ranch. The tragic consequences were still being lived down, by Glenn and his daughter. “She was a good woman,” Glenn said stubbornly. “She was just impulsive and easily led.” “Which is how many good people end up in prison,” John said sadly. “I’m hopeful that we can keep my big brother out of it.” Cole stood up with his son and clapped him on the back. “Something I’ll never have to worry about with you,” he said with obvious affection.
“At least one of my kids turned out right.” He was referring to Odalie, who’d had a brush with the law in her teens, just as Tanner had—when going into the military was the only thing that saved him from serving time. Tanner had fallen in with a few ex-cons and gotten drunk with them. He passed out in the back seat just before they robbed a convenience store, but Cole had to get attorneys and pull a lot of strings to keep his son out of jail. “Most kids turn out right eventually, even those who have a rough start,” Glenn said with a smile. “Yours turned out very well,” Cole said, smiling gently at Stasia. “She reminds me of Heather at her age.” “And that’s a compliment indeed,” Glenn said, watching his daughter flush shyly. “Well, we’d better get back home,” Cole said. “We’re getting ready for roundup. If you need any help over here, when you start, you know we’ll do anything you need us for.” Glenn smiled and shook hands with both men. “Yes, I do know. I’ll send my hands over if you need extras. We’re waiting a week to start.” “We’d be grateful. No matter how many hands you have, a few more are always welcome.” “Done. Just say the word.”
“I don’t guess you’d like to take in a movie this weekend?” John asked Stasia on the way out the door. She hesitated. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings. She smiled gently. “I would, but I’m working on a landscape and I have a real incentive to finish it quickly now, just in case that nice man does give my name to somebody back East,” she added with just the right touch of regret. She liked John, but she didn’t want to encourage him. Nobody could replace Tanner in her heart. “Okay,” John said easily, hiding his disappointment. “Rain check?” “Sure,” she lied. He grinned and they all went out onto the long, wide front porch to see the Everetts off.
Cole stared into the distance. “Good weather, for early spring,” he said, admiring the grass that was just getting nice and green in the pastures beyond. “I hope it holds.” “So do I,” Glenn replied. “See you.” Glenn threw up a hand. Stasia waved. The Everetts got into one of their top-of-the-line black ranch trucks and drove away.
“John’s sweet on you,” Glenn mentioned over supper that night. “I know,” she groaned. “I like him so much. He’s like the brother I never had. But he wants more than I can give him, Dad. It wouldn’t be right to encourage him.” Glenn nodded. “I agree.” He cocked his head at her. “It’s still Tanner, isn’t it?” She grimaced and nodded. “I can’t help it. I’ve been crazy about him since I was fifteen, and he can’t see me for dust. It’s such a shame that I’m not beautiful and rich and sophisticated,” she added heavily. “A man who loves you won’t care what you are or what you’ve got,” he said gently. “I guess not.” She poked at her salad with a fork. “Julienne’s really beautiful. Of course, she doesn’t talk to the peasants. I saw them together in Branntville just before they left for overseas. She looked me up and down and just laughed.” Her face burned at the memory. “So did he, in fact. He thinks I’m a kid.”
Glenn had a faraway look in his eyes. “That could change,” he said, almost to himself. He turned his green eyes toward her, the same green eyes that he’d hoped she might inherit. But her brown ones were like his late wife’s, he reflected, big and brown and beautiful. “You’ll inherit this ranch,” he added. “I hope you’ll have the good sense to find a manager if you don’t want the responsibility of running it yourself. And I hope you won’t be taken in by any slick-talking young man who sees you as a meal ticket,” he added worriedly, because she wasn’t street-smart. “This property has been in our family for a hundred years. I’d hate to see it go to an amusement park for tourists.” She frowned. “Why would it go to someone like that?” “Oh, this guy offered me a lot of money for the property just the other day, when I was at the bank renewing a couple of CDs. The bank president introduced us.” “You told him no, of course, right, Dad?” she asked.
He pursed his lips. He drew in a breath. “I told him I’d think about it.” He didn’t tell her that the ranch was mortgaged right up to the eaves of the house. His bad business decisions had led the place to ruin, something Cole Everett knew. It was why Cole was trying to get the ranch. But then, he’d have it soon, Glenn thought sadly. He couldn’t let Stasia become a charity case, and the sale of the ranch wouldn’t even cover the debts, as things stood. “But it’s right next door to the Everetts’ new ranch, the one Tanner owns,” she said worriedly. “Can you imagine how nervous purebred cattle would react to an amusement park next door?” “I can,” he said. “Tanner could lose everything,” she said. “His livelihood depends on the new ranch, especially since his dad has already split the inheritance at Big Spur between John and Odalie. He figured Tanner would have enough of a fortune with the Rocking C.” The Rocking C was the name of Tanner’s ranch. The previous owner, an elderly Easterner, had called it his rocking chair spread. Hence the name.
“Well, Tanner might have to make a hard decision one day, when I’m gone,” Glenn said, and smiled to himself. “Are you plotting something, Dad?” she asked, worried. “Me?” He contrived to look innocent. “Now what would I have to be plotting about?” He chuckled. “How about some of that apple pie you made? This new heart medicine my doctor put me on makes me hungrier, for some reason.”
“You never did tell me what he said when you went to him last week,” she mentioned. “Same old same old. Take it easy, take my meds, don’t do any heavy lifting,” he answered, lying through his teeth. He was due to speak to a cardiologist soon, who would decide if the open-heart surgery Glenn was frightened of was required to keep him alive. A quadruple bypass, the doctor had recommended, and soon. Too many fats, too much cholesterol— despite Stasia’s efforts to make him eat healthy food—a history of heart problems and not recognizing his limitations had placed Glenn in a bind. Glenn hadn’t shared that information with his daughter. No need to worry her. Besides, he felt fine.
A few days later, just after his cardiologist’s office had phoned with an early appointment to see the intervention cardiologist, he started up the steps into the house and fell down dead.
Tanner Everett was cursing at the top of his lungs, so loudly that Cole had to call him down before Heather heard her son. “Go ahead. Rage,” Cole snapped. “But the will can’t be broken. Nobody in Branntville will agree that Glenn Bolton wasn’t in his right mind when he made it.”
“An amusement park! Next to my purebred herd!” Tanner whirled on his heel and glared at his parent. “And if I don’t marry damned Stasia, that’s my future.” Cole felt the resentment in the younger man. In his place, he’d have felt it as well. “It was a rotten thing to do,” Cole agreed. “But we have to deal with what we’ve got, not what we wish we had.”
“I’m twenty-five years old,” Tanner raged. “I’m not ready to get married! Not for years yet!” He stared at his father. “You were older than me when you married Mother.” “Yes, I was. I played the field for years.” He looked down at his boots. “I loved your mother. For a long time. But she had a rival who lied and said Heather and I were related by blood. She took years away from us.” Tanner knew the story. All the Everett kids did. It would have been a tragedy if Cole hadn’t found out the truth in time.
“Heather was just about Stasia’s age when I fell in love with her. She sang like a nightingale, just like Odalie does now. She was beautiful. She still is,” he added softly. Tanner, who’d never felt love for a woman, just stared at him without comprehension.
“There must be some way to dispute the will,” Tanner said doggedly. “Go ahead and look for one. But I’ll tell you what our attorney told me: no way in hell. You marry Stasia or the property goes to the Blue Sky Management Properties. Stasia will get nothing.”
“Bull! The ranch is worth millions,” Tanner shot back. “It was. Glenn was no rancher, even if his father was,” Cole replied curtly. “The place is mortgaged to the hilt, and you can’t tell Stasia that. She’s got enough misery right now coping with her dad’s death.” He grimaced. Even he was sorry for Stasia’s situation. She couldn’t help what she felt for him, he supposed. But he was never going to return it. She had to know that.
“Which leads to my suggestion. I’m giving you the Rocking Chair ranch, and merging Stasia’s with Big Spur. We can pay off the debt by disposing of most of Glenn’s beef cattle and replacing it with our purebred Santa Gerts. In other words,” Cole added quietly, “either you make a go of your new ranch or you’ll be out in the cold. I’m not changing my will, Tanner,” he added firmly. “I’m sorry. But you could do worse. And it’s about time you stayed home and managed your own damned ranch and stopped acting like some Eastern playboy.”
“I hate dust and cattle,” Tanner muttered. “You should have given this ranch to John. Then he could have married Stasia.” “She wouldn’t have him,” Cole said simply. “She doesn’t love him.” He jammed his hands into his slacks pockets. “She doesn’t love me, or she wouldn’t have encouraged her father to do this to me!”
“I don’t think she had anything to do with it. Glenn had a bad heart and she had no other family.” “You could have adopted her,” Tanner said with a sarcastic bite in his voice. Cole’s silver eyes narrowed and started to glitter. Tanner cut his losses. “All right, damn it!” he muttered. “I’ll do what I have to. But I’m not settling down to aprons and babies and white picket fences! Not for any woman!” “Nobody’s asking you to.” Cole felt sorry for Stasia. She loved Tanner. Maybe, maybe love on one side would be enough. But he was worried. Tanner was like a stallion with a new rope around his neck. This wasn’t going to end well.
Stasia was in shock. She sat at the kitchen table and made the funeral arrangements, relying on the funeral home and her father’s attorney for clarity. She was penniless. Worse, her father had forced his attorney to put a clause in the will. Tanner married Stasia, or her father’s property went to the amusement park man, who would turn it into a loud, cluttered nightmare for Cole’s horses and cattle. She’d heard the terms of her father’s will from their attorney, Mr. Bellamy. She was shocked and miserable, especially when she recalled what her father had told her only days before, about the offer from the amusement park man. She’d thought she’d get at least enough to live on from the deal, but it wasn’t like that at all. Her father had kept so much from her. The ranch was worthless, mortgaged and debt-ridden. There was no way she could run it for a profit, or even hire someone to run it. And if the amusement park man got it, it would destroy Cole’s ranch as well as Tanner’s. Neither of them could afford to tear down existing stables and barns and rebuild them in a safer location. In fact, there would be no safer location, with that overlit nightmare of noise and light nearby.
Not for one minute did she think Tanner would give in to her father’s subdued blackmail and marry her. She was ashamed that he’d even put that clause into his will. Tanner would probably think it was her idea. When she finished the preliminaries, she went to her father’s closet to look for his one good suit and his best pair of wing-tip shoes. The sight of the suit set her off. She dropped down onto the spotless paisley duvet on her father’s bed and bawled until her eyes were red and her throat hurt. That was probably why she didn’t hear the knock at the front screen door, which wasn’t locked. It was also probably why she wasn’t aware that Tanner had come into the room and was standing in the doorway, just watching her.
He knew she loved her father. He was the only family she had left. It hurt him to watch her cry. He’d had no real feelings for her, except irritation that she was infatuated with him and let it show too much. But she was really hurting. He’d never lost anyone in his family. Both sets of his grandparents had been dead when he was born. He didn’t know death except as an observer.
“Stasia?” he called quietly. She jumped, startled, and lifted a wet face with red-lined eyes to his. She swallowed down the pincushion that seemed stuck there and swiped at her eyes with the tail of the bright yellow T-shirt she was wearing. “It wasn’t my idea, what he put in the will,” she said, as if he’d already accused her of engineering it. Angry brown eyes warred with his pale blue ones.
The prolific author of more than one hundred books, Diana Palmer got her start as a newspaper reporter. A New York Times bestselling author and voted one of the top ten romance writers in America, she has a gift for telling the most sensual tales with charm and humor. Diana lives with her family in Cornelia, Georgia.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MURDER AMONGTHE ROSES (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #1) by Liz Fielding on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Book Tour.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
In the peaceful village of Maybridge, you wouldn’t expect to find a dead body in the rose garden. And certainly not two.
Abby Finch is horrified to discover the bones of a baby long-since buried under a rose bush in the garden of her soon-to-be ex-husband Howard’s family home.
She immediately calls the police but she can’t get hold of Howard. He’s off on a jolly with the very pregnant soon-to-be new Mrs Finch.
Abby will do whatever it takes to keep things cordial for the sake of her three children. But when Howard learns the press have found out, he’s livid. He accuses Abby of sabotaging his fledgling political campaign.
And then, just two days later, Abby finds Howard himself. Lying dead in the very same rose garden. Throat slashed with her own garden spade.
Now Abby is the prime suspect.
Somebody in this quiet village is hiding a dark secret. And Abby will have to dig deep to uncover the truth.
MEET THE DETECTIVE Brilliant gardener and the busy mum of three, Abby Finch’s dreams of winning gold at Chelsea Flower Show were put on hold by an unplanned pregnancy and marriage. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. These days she’s kept on her toes looking by her beloved family, running her own business and dealing with her imminent divorce. In an effort to keep things cordial, she’s allowed her ex to bully her into restoring the garden of his family home. Thankfully she’s surrounded herself with a great group of friends to lean on.
THE SETTING Pretty Maybridge is a charming village set in the sheep-dotted Cotswolds hills, with a long history stretching back to Tudor times. It’s the type of place where everyone knows each other, but there’s a wonderful bookshop on the corner of the bridge, a popular riverside café and a bustling market at Christmastime. And with Bristol nearby and a big supermarket round the corner.
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
MURDER AMONG THE ROSES (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #1) by Liz Fielding is an outstanding cozy mystery start to a new series set in the quiet and quaint village of Maybridge featuring a unique protagonist. From the beautiful cover to the resolution of the mystery, I was unable to put this book down.
Abby Finch loves her gardening business and is trying to remain civil with her soon to be ex-husband for the sake of their three children, but he has coerced her into cleaning up his family’s estates gardens after the death of his grandmother. As she is digging up a rose bush, she discovers the small bones of an infant. She immediately reports the find to the local police.
When Harold Finch returns from a weekend trip with his fiancée, he immediately confronts Abby about going to the police and accuses her of trying to destroy his budding political aspirations. After Abby has a run in with his fiancée, she goes looking for Harold and finds him over the baby’s grave, dead.
Even with several people in and out of the garden that day, Abby, the soon to be ex, is the prime suspect. As she begins to investigate estate records researching the time the bones of the baby could have been buried, she begins to bring to light dark secrets Harold’s family tried to keep buried.
This is a fantastic cozy mystery. The author does not begin immediately with the murder, but introduces Abby, her family and friends and other characters associated with Harold and the divorce. It was fascinating to read how Abby went about researching the estate and journals from the past to bring to light the murderer in the present. The story pulled me in with characters that are fully developed and believable. I feel the pacing of this cozy mystery plot is flawless, and the twists and red herrings are perfectly placed. I am very interested in how the author will move forward in this series and cannot wait to read the next book in the series.
I highly recommend this cozy mystery!
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About the Author
Award winning author Liz Fielding was born with itchy feet. She was working in Zambia before her twenty-first birthday and, gathering her own special hero and a couple of children on the way, has lived in Botswana, Kenya and the Middle East, all of which have provided rich inspiration for her writing.
She has written more than seventy books, several of which have won awards, and sold over 15 million copies. In 2019 she was honoured with the Romantic Novelists’ Association Outstanding Career Award. She lives in West Sussex.
Tired of being seen as a lonely workaholic, advertising exec Jill Wickey promises to bring her “casual boyfriend” to her sister’s Valentine’s wedding. Too bad he doesn’t exist! Then Thom Miller, a carpenter working at her aunt’s Amish B&B, offers to be Jill’s fake boyfriend—if they turn the lie into truth. But dating Thom in idyllic Amish country makes Jill wish their temporary arrangement could last… From Harlequin Heartwarming: Wholesome stories of love, compassion and belonging.
The Butternut Amish B&B
Book 1: Her Amish Country Valentine Book 2: A Single Dad in Amish Country
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Elise’s Thoughts
Her Amish Country Valentine by Patricia Johns blends Englishers within an Amish community. Readers will have fun seeing how a romance can bloom from strangers to friends to falling in love. What also makes the plot interesting is how the author has set up not one, but four different relationship stories.
The story opens with Jill Wickey coming to Danke Pennsylvania for her younger sister’s wedding. She is staying with her Amish great-aunt, Belinda, the owner of Butternut Bed & Breakfast. After her sister, Elsa, teases Jill about her single status she claims she has a plus one. Now, she just needs to find a date. A carpenter working on Aunt Belinda’s kitchen agrees to be Jill’s plus one with some prodding, but only if she agrees to casually date him before the wedding. He doesn’t like misleading people and this way it won’t technically be a lie. As they get to know each other they realize that they have a lot in common with strong feelings.
Jill’s family is English along with Amish cousins and Belinda who remained Amish. Belinda’s other job is being a matchmaker to the Amish community. She is asked by Nellie King to find her a husband, the condition for keeping her father’s farm. What Belinda does not realize is that her neighbor, Eli, aspires to be with her.
Each of the couples are struggling with their differences: Jill is a city gal while Thom wants to stay in the country. Elsa wants a big wedding, while Sean wants to just be married by a judge. Nellie needs a farmer, while Mark knows nothing about it although he is willing to learn. Belinda sees Eli as too dependent and odd. The four couples, Jill and Thom, Elsa and Sean, Nellie and Mark, and Belinda and Eli, think they have different reasons for finding or avoiding love. Readers will go through all the emotions as each couple struggles to find their happily ever after.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: The idea for the story?
Patricia Johns: My best-selling books are Amish. Heartwarming Publishing is not an inspirational line but are sweet stories. I suggested an Amish adjacent, which has an Amish environment, but the hero and heroine are English characters. We worked within the line requirements. In this book, it was a country versus a city story. I am drawn to Amish romances because of the way the community connects.
EC: It seemed the city people were the isolated ones; can you address that?
PJ: Often times I write about the insiders versus the outsiders. People within a tight community versus those city dwellers who are wishing they can be a part of the tight community. I liked the idea putting the English heroine, Jill, in an environment surrounding the wedding of her little sister. There is a tight Amish community and there are the English within the community who like living the country way. Now Jill is the fish out of water.
EC: What about the differences between Jill and her sister Elsa?
PJ: Both sisters are jealous of each other and have different strengths
Elsa is better with connecting with those in the family that stayed Amish. She is more domestic, able to knit and cook. A real people pleaser.
Jill is a loner, tough, intimidating, and does not reconnect easily. She is a workaholic, independent, private, succeeds professionally, and a career woman. Yet, she is guarded, pragmatic, and levelheaded.
EC: How would you describe Thom?
PJ: He is kind, honest, a hard worker, stubborn, wounded, protective, and decent.
EC: Can you describe the relationship between Jill and Thom?
PJ: Jill must look closer at what she wants for her life. She must decide what she wants to give up, and what she is willing to compromise on. She is in her thirties, so she has a direction, and has made choices/sacrifices to get where she is. At this point in her life is she willing to sacrifice what she has become? She wants a romance but is not sure how to open herself up to one. While Thom’s last romance had his heart more into it than his girlfriend. This really hurt him. It makes him ‘once bitten, twice shy.’ Then he falls head over heels for Jill, which loosens his feelings up again.
EC: What is the role of Eeyore?
PJ: I love him. He represents everything in the country life, where there is no control. He has his own mind and ideas. He is the heart and soul of the bed and breakfast. Eeyore can be obstinate, stubborn, adventurous, and does his own thing. I contrasted Eeyore with Jill and Elsa who want to control something. Elsa wants to control how people see her, the relationship with people, to have everything sweet and wonderful all the time. Jill wants to control her achievements and professional success. Then there is Eeyore the donkey who no one can control.
EC: There are four couples that try to achieve a relationship: Aunt Belinda and Eli, Amish Nellie and Mark, Jill and Thom, and Elsa and Sean. Are there similarities or differences?
PJ: There are marriages for convenience and marriages for love. The practical side has no guarantee they will find love, while the romantic side is making sure the personality of the partner makes it easy to live with.
Nellie is naïve, sweet, kind, and sheltered. She eventually decides she wants true love over the practicality. Nellie is a foil to the rest because she thought she wants a practical marriage, while the Englishers are looking for love
Eli is set in his ways, but his animals were his friends and family and companions. Belinda is frustrated with him because of his quirkiness. Eli has always been in love with Belinda.
Sean does not realize that one of his friends, Mae, considers herself his ex-girlfriend even though she has never dated him. He is clueless about her feelings for him. He has been in love with Elsa the whole time. Sean asks Elsa to have Mae as a bridesmaid. She accepts because she does not want to rock the boat although she is jealous of Mae. With the wedding Mae does not like the reality that Sean will never be with her and is off the table.
Jill and Thom must struggle between their lifestyle and their love for each other. Their lifestyles represent their security. They both want to control things to feel safe. Yet, falling in love is very dangerous.
EC: Next books?
PJ: It will take the full series to have Belinda and Eli find their happily ever after. The next book in this series is titled A Single Dad in Amish Country, released on June 27th. The heroine is a commercial pilot, Hazel Dobbs who meets the single dad, a landscaper.
Their Amish Secret will be released April 24th, a love inspired story. The heroine is Claire Glick who had a baby out of wedlock. She manages a bed and breakfast. The father of her son, Joel Beiler, shows up at her doorstep with medical problems. There is a lot of distrust between them. The theme of this book is what does each person in a relationship really bring to it.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Mini Book Reviews for THE McKENZIES OF RIDGE TRAIL series by Lori Foster. Three exciting romantic suspense books featuring a tight knit family of vigilantes working to stop human trafficking in their area of Colorado.
The McKenzies of Ridge Trail
Book 1: No Holding Back Book 2: Stronger Than You Know Book 3: Watching Over You
Below you will find book descriptions, my mini book reviews, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Trucker Sterling (Star) Parson is no stranger to the challenges a woman faces, both in her industry and in life. But she can take care of herself. She’s never needed—or wanted—a man around…until she meets Cade McKenzie. The take-charge bar owner sets off all kinds of alarm bells for Sterling, but he also sets her heart racing.
Cade’s lived in Ridge Trail long enough to know trouble when he sees it, and the moment Sterling—Star—walks into his bar, he knows trouble’s come to call. Secrets run deep in the small town and Cade can tell Star’s got as many as he does, leaving him itching to uncover every last one. But finding common ground will mean trusting one another, further feeding an intense attraction that’s growing impossible to resist.
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My Mini Book Review
NO HOLDING BACK (The McKenzies of Ridge Trail Book #1) by Lori Foster is a thrilling, fast paced romantic suspense which introduces the McKenzie family and their unique family business. This first book in the series features the eldest son, Cade McKenzie and the unique woman who captures first his interest and then his heart.
Cade and Sterling “Star” have both had to deal with the emotional devastation of human trafficking in their lives. Cade was an Army Ranger until he returned home with a medical discharge and became involved in his family’s fight. Star escaped and survived her trafficking, with major trust issues, but she refuses to be broken and works on her own to help others escape from traffickers while seeking revenge.
I love these two together and how Cade took the necessary time to gain Star’s trust while both danced around how much they were willing to reveal to each other. I always love a strong heroine and Star more than fits the bill, physically and in the way she stands up to Cade’s alpha tendencies and his father’s domineering attitude. All the members of the McKenzie family are fully fleshed. The plot is full of suspense and danger but is also interspersed with humor and smokin’ hot sex scenes that are explicit, but not gratuitous. The discussions of human trafficking are handled realistically and do include scenes of violence.
I highly recommend this emotional romantic suspense!
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Book Description
Kennedy Brooks has spent years learning how to protect herself, and empowering other women to do the same. Still, there are some hazards that can’t be predicted. That includes Reyes McKenzie, who owns her local gym. Strong, capable, and watchful, he seems like the one man who might understand her past. For once, Kennedy is tempted to let her guard down—something she’s vowed never to do.
The moment petite, fiercely determined Kennedy walked into his gym, Reyes knew that she carried secrets. What he didn’t expect was that she could tell the same about him. When trouble tracks her down, she turns to Reyes, unleashing a maelstrom of protective instinct and mutual desire. But will her need for him end when the danger does, or will they take the ultimate risk—on each other?
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Mini Book Review
STRONGER THAN YOU KNOW (The McKenzies of Ridge Trail book #2) by Lori Foster is another exciting romantic suspense in the McKenzies of Ridge Trail series. This story features the second McKenzie son, Reyes who has been trained his entire life to fight against human traffickers with his family and the woman who has turned her experience of being trafficked into empowering other women.
Reyes McKenzie runs a gym in the seedier part of town to gather intel on human trafficking activity that he and his family can act against. Kennedy Brooks uses Reyes’s gym to work on her self-defense skills and even though she is intrigued by Reyes, she wants nothing to do with him until she returns from a conference and finds her apartment building on fire and two men lurking by her Uber. Reyes’ protective instincts kick in and Kennedy will be staying with him until they can discover who is after her.
Reyes is a wonderful hero with his protectiveness of Kennedy, and I loved his continual wise-cracking and needling of others. Kennedy is a strong heroine, not so much physically, but with her strength and caring for others which makes the inclusion of Jodi, another trafficking survivor, a great example of her caring. The romance in this story is a slow burn with Reyes not believing he would ever find true love, but once they get together, hot, hot, hot. The suspense plot moves at a fast pace and does have realistic descriptions of violence against women. I liked catching up with Cade and Star’s relationship and I also enjoyed learning more about Reyes’s father and Bernard in this book.
Another wonderful addition to the series and I highly recommend this exciting romantic suspense!
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Book Description
While investigating a criminal network, Detective Crosby Albertson keeps crossing paths with members of the highly trained, suspiciously well-informed McKenzie family. They’re always one step ahead of him—especially their alarmingly attractive intel specialist, Madison. And Crosby needs to find out why.
Madison McKenzie is the tech and surveillance whiz of her family’s operation. A recent case introduced her to Detective Albertson. She finds herself irresistibly drawn to the sexy and mysterious cop. There’s just one problem. He’s a detective and her family’s work is secret. When Crosby starts digging for information about the McKenzies, Madison’s got to get him off the scent…while keeping him at a safe distance.
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My Mini Book Review
WATCHING OVER YOU (The McKenzies of Ridge Trail Book #3) by Lori Foster is the third gripping romantic suspense in the McKenzies of Ridge Trail series. This story features the youngest and only female McKenzie, Madison and her continuing interest in the local detective who suspects the McKenzie’s are involved in more than strictly legal activities in their dealings with human traffickers.
Madison McKenzie is a tech prodigy and assists her father and brothers in their fight against human traffickers. Her infatuation and frank back and forth with Crosby Albertson is entertaining and leads to an intense build-up of sexual tension. Crosby Albertson, no longer a detective, is now working for Madison’s father. Madison and Crosby must decide if all the family secrets can be overcome. When a secret from his private life is uncovered and endangered, he finds he is more in line with McKenzie family justice than worrying about the legal system.
This is my favorite romance story of the three McKenzie siblings. Madison is a great heroine who is talented, physically strong, forthright, and yet vulnerable. Crosby is an alpha hero who is struggling with his law-and-order beliefs versus the McKensie vigilante beliefs. His love of Madison, family, and any he considers family makes the crossing of the line a decision he must make as they are threatened. It is great when the family comes together, not only to defeat human traffickers, but in leisure at the family mansion to catch up with all the character’s current lives. This suspense plot is as fast paced as the others, but this book has a bit more romance with not only Madison and Crosby coming together, but also Parrish, Madison’s father, and Silver. This is the last book in this series, and I am sorry to see it end.
I highly recommend this final romantic suspense in this series!
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Author Bio
Lori Foster is a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author with over 10 million books sold. She received the Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews and her books have been chosen as editors picks by Amazon multiple times. Foster is actively involved in charity work, and all of the author proceeds from her anthologies have gone to various organizations, such as the Animal Adoption Foundation, the Conductive Learning Center, and One Way Farm. She lives in Ohio with her high school sweetheart.
“The Hot Shot Series” by Lisa Childs is a two for one. There are two mysteries in each book. A threat against the hero and heroine involving their personal life, and an overriding arc that has someone sabotaging the team. Although the books are in a series, there is sufficient information given in each book that allows each to be read as a standalone. The novels have great banter, murder, deception, and some romance. There is non-stop action with one threat after another.
The latest book, Hotshot Hero in Disguise, starts out with a bang as a stove explodes setting fire to Hotshot Ethan Sommerly’s beard and hair. He is injured and taken to the hospital, where he finds out that his long hair and bushy beard have protected his face from severe burns, but now he must trim and shave them because of the burns. He goes to the beauty salon owned by Tammy Ingles who realizes after completing her work that he has been hiding his identity. Not only does the attraction between them heat up but also the threats. There are several prime candidates, and the tension ramps up as Ethan and the others try to figure out who is involved.
The book before this one, Hotshot Heroes Under Threat, has another team member being threatened, Patrick (Trick) McRooney. He was assigned to go undercover and investigate why all these “accidents” were happening to the team. No one knows if the threats are against him or the team. One of the firefighters, Henrietta (Hank) Rowlins is also being threatened. People are wondering if the assailant wants Hank dead, Trick dead, or the team dead? It seems every time Hank and trick are together, their lives are threatened. Even though there is a major attraction between them each tries to stay apart to prevent the other from being hurt, literally and figuratively. What makes the stories heartfelt is how each member of the team eventually has each other’s back. The suspense of the story will have readers turning the pages, wondering how the danger will be stopped.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the series?
Lisa Childs: While in college my husband worked for the US Forest Department. He had gone out to fight wildfires. When I started the series, my editor told me to make the heroes “hot shot firefighters.” I went from there. It started as four books, but there will be twelve total books in the series.
EC: The last two Hotshot books have similar relationships?
LC: Yes, both heroes tried to have a hands-off attitude toward the heroines because they did not want to endanger her. They are protectors, a part of their personality to save and help people.
EC: In your latest Hotshot book, Hero in Disguise, how would you describe Ethan Sommerly?
LC: He is mysterious, very quiet, and hides behind his big beard and bushy hair. He is a loner with big secrets.
EC: What about the heroine, Tammy Ingles?
LC: She is everybody’s friend, loved by everyone. She is very supportive, blunt, funny, quick-witted, and likes to be in control of her own life.
EC: What about the relationship?
LC: Although Tammy is not looking for love, she is intrigued with Ethan. She enjoys flirting and teasing Ethan to see him get flustered. There has always been an attraction between them.
EC: Is the heroine in the book before this one, Hotshot Heroes Under Threat, Henrietta (Hank) Rowlins, like Tammy?
LC: No, she is very much different. She has flourished in a male dominated career, especially as a Hotshot. She is very tough, physical, and brave.
EC: What about the hero in Under Threat, Patrick (trick) McRooney?
LC: At first, he is resented by the rest of the team since he took the place of their beloved Hotshot teammate who died. Plus, he is also the boss’s brother-in-law, so people feel there was nepotism involved. He needs to prove himself, that he deserves to be there. Trick also has abandonment issues because his mother took off when he was young.
EC: What about the relationship between Hank and Trick?
LC: Hank is vulnerable and mistrusting. They dance around their attraction, partly because of the rule there can be no fraternization among teammates.
EC: Next books?
LC: Book 9 of this series comes out in December and is titled, Hotshot Heroes for the Holiday and is Trent Miles story with a new heroine, a detective from Detroit.
Book 10 comes out in May 2024 with the hero Rory Van Dam and the heroine, reporter Brittany Townsend.
Book 11 comes out in July 2024 with heroine Hotshot Michaela Momber and the hero, the owner of the bar. This is my 100th book for Harlequin Publishers.
Book 12 comes out in October 2024 with heroine trooper Wyonna Wells.
I also write a bunch of different series, “Bachelor Cowboys” and “Bachelor Bodyguards.” A Cowboys Justice is a Cold Case Suspense novel coming out this April, and the next Bachelor Cowboy book comes out in June, Firefighters Family Secret.
Baby Rescue Mission comes out in September with the heroine a Child Protective Services investigator.
The “Bane Island Series” is with a different publisher, Kensington. It is a thriller. A former psychiatric hospital has been converted to a posh spa, but bodies start piling up. The final one in the series is out this October. There is a rivalry between the local sheriff and the guy who owns the spa. There is a lot of conflict
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
